Rejected for internship once for being 'too experienced' - should I apply again?!

CamillaRhodes

About 2 months ago, I applied for an internship with an organisation I would really, really like to work for, was interviewed for it, and thought I'd aced it. But then they told me that I had too much experience for an internship, and they'd prefer it to go to someone who is more at the start of their career.

Now, they have another internship advertised, in a different field to last time, one in which I have less experience (though still some). I would dearly love to work for this organisation, and am happy to go in at entry (intern) level with a hope to get a job further down the line.

I'm wondering, am I (a) wasting my/their time, and/or (b) likely to p*ss them off by applying for another internship, when they told me I had too much experience for an internship last time round? Or are they going to see it as an illustration of my commitment to working with them?

There just don't seem to be any jobs going in my field which are at 'my' level, I'm not experienced enough for the jobs advertised and too senior for the internships I'm unemployed at the moment, btw.

dazberry

Well nothing ventured nothing gained, you may well be wasting your time, but lets be honest, if they don't offer you the internship does it really matter if they're p1ssed off at you or not? Best of luck

D.

CamillaRhodes

See, they told me in their rejection letter last time that they thought I was a really strong candidate and that they would be happy to interview me for a professional position (rather than an internship) as and when one should come up. Problem is, nothing seems to be coming up, with this organisation or any other. On the other hand, I've only been actively job hunting about 6 weeks, maybe I should be more patient? Basically, I would hate to irritate the HR person in this org, if there was a likelihood of a professional position becoming vacant in the near future. But yeah, maybe you're right, nothing ventured etc etc.

The closing date is tomorrow, I think (or Monday), so if anyone else has any advice in the next 24 hours or so, I'd be very grateful! Otherwise I guess I'll go for it, with a very carefully written cover letter?

SATSUMA

Go for it! Just be very clear in your cover letter that you were interviewed previously and why you are willing to start an internship in the absence of a professional position. If your cover letter is clear and to the point, the organisation then has the opprtunity to make a decision based on fact. If they decide not to call you than that is their perogative at that point. Remember too, that internships are often bottom of the food chain and they may think that you would just be plain bored, over qualified ect for such a position. You are probably not used to being unemployed and having time on your hands which is bound to cause a certain level of anxiety for you. At the end of the day take each opportunity as it arises. Best of luck.

mood

Apply again but explain the situation in the cover letter.

100% go for it. I don't believe the "too experienced" line. If it is that, what a pathetic reason considering you WANT to work for them so that is a BENEFIT to them. Are you arrogant or did you come across that way ? Because it seems to me that the people you work with on the internship would be quite junior and therefore may find it intimidating "teaching" you things you already know.

I'd apply 100% again.

pow wow

I'm fairly sure I work in a similar, if not the same field as the OP and it's sensationally hard to get into, so much so that unpaid internships really are used by the organisations involved to give beginners a 'chance' so to speak. Many of the skills the OP would have already acquired in her career to date would be the ones the internship would equip the beginner with and thus although the OP's commitment matches that of any beginner, the usefulness of the role in developing her skills is going to be limited, and in a way it's a poor use of the role to train someone who is already trained in that field. Whether that's fair or not is a whole other debate.

OP, if it's any consolation all the (admittedly paid) internships I applied for before I got my current job rejected me because of my previous field experience, not because I had too much, but because the quality of applicants was so high they effectively raised the bar to the point where I didn't have enough. I didn't think that was terribly fair at the time (it's either an internship or it isn't right?) but once the rules are there there's not much we can do about them.

Now the deadline date for applying has passed, what did you end up doing?

CamillaRhodes

Pow wow, gonna send you an IM if that's ok, as don't want to go too much into personal detail on here but would love to ask you a little more. Ta!